Speaking of Leadership
Dan on Twitter- danmulhern: Mi Repubs claim to be biz-like. But what biz person wld not spend $ where profit looks sure? Pure wimps on tourism! #michigan
- danmulhern: Sandra Bullock Leads http://www.danmulhern.com/wordpress/category/rfl/
- danmulhern: 1st trip to Tigers' spring training. Very cool.
- danmulhern: This week's radio show on the very cool & changing world of #communitycolleges listen sat 7am EST http://bit.ly/8zSTB0
- danmulhern: #leadchange A very interesting movement on LinkedIn that's about leading from who you are, not from what your position is!
May
29
Leading in Remembrance
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Friends,
Welcome back to the world of work after your Memorial Day celebration. From time to time being the “First Gentleman” offers some extraordinary experiences. One of those is attending the Governor’s “Families of the Fallen” gathering on the weekend before Memorial Day. This year about 50 families came to the residence for breakfast on Thursday to remember their lost loved ones and to find solace in their shared experience.
Perhaps there has never been a war that was without controversy. But it is certainly true in the age of the modern media, and with full exposure of the decisions made by governmental leaders, that wars will be questioned. The terrible miscalculations and the immoral misrepresentations have certainly made this so in the war in Iraq. Some of the family members who gathered here last week might think that these lines are cruel, or worse that they undermine the supreme value of the sacrifice their young men laid down. But I mean to exalt, not diminish their sacrifice.
We all live lives filled with moral uncertainty. We pursue goals that seem valuable, but it is never clear we are entirely on track, and we are always making sacrifices and judgment calls: family versus work, speed versus thoroughness, justice versus mercy, skepticism versus faith. What is awesome about the fallen heroes is that they signed up to serve, knowing the great risks involved, and then gave up everything, quite literally everything. And there was never a guarantee of certainty.
The most fervent desire of the families I spoke with last week was that their sons not be forgotten. So perhaps today when you pursue with total commitment something that you’re not entirely sure of, or for which you think others will criticize you, remember those who gave everything. They believed in principles and in country. Each one of us — especially those of us who are working to make a whole new Michigan — may feel small, a petty part, and even unsure of the value of the things we do. At such times, we ought to remember the fallen and the families that grieve for them, and do with total commitment that which we believe needs to be done.
Do that and you will . . .
Lead with your best self,
Dan
May
21
Greatness and Challenge
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Friends,
When a company is number one on the Fortune magazine list of “100 Best Companies to Work For,†it should hardly be surprising that the culture in their office would be palpably positive. Still I wondered on my way to the grand opening of Google’s new offices in Ann Arbor, exactly what would be most striking about their place. They grab you at hello, as the décor is totally fun, starting with the finger-painted handprints of each employee on the walls in the main lobby. Sponge Bob’s, Supermen, and Mr. Potato Heads (he is the customary gift to new employees) were popping their heads above the bullpen of cubicles. It is also true that there is a lot of food around, and coolers with soft drinks and energy drinks, and cutting edge cappuccino machines – all free! The people were young and the mood was upbeat.
I was most taken by two other things. Google came to Ann Arbor for talent, and walking around and talking to the Nooglers (that’s a new Googler), they got it. An impressive ex-Marine. A woman who chose Ann Arbor over her husband’s home town of Paris (yes, that would be France). A whole lot of high achievers.
The top Googler there was David Fischer, in from California to address the troops. Two lines from David struck me — for the content, but especially for the passion with which he delivered them. He said people are impressed with what Google has accomplished, but at Google they don’t spend much time thinking about that. We are most focused and most excited about what we are going to do in the future, he said. The other point that he made was that the standards for everyone there are high. And each of those talented people they hired – with incredibly diverse backgrounds – was hired in large part because they are people who want challenge. Challenge gets them geeked up; challenge and the resultant creativity are at the core of what makes Google a great place to work.
Too often we forget the value of challenge. I have given many speeches about my book, Everyday Leadership: Getting Results in Business Politics and Life*, during which I engage the audience around the topic of energy. I lead them in a high-speed brainstorm on things to do to increase the level of energy in a group. People have lots of great ideas: smile, reward, encourage, listen, help out, get some small wins, etc.  But what groups almost never say is CHALLENGE! Yet it’s challenge that often gets people going. For example: tell someone “it’s never been done before,†or “we only have 15 minutes left,†or “no one believes we can accomplish it.â€Â Google has that indefatigable spirit. And let me repeat: it is in large part challenge that makes Google a great place to do work.
Do you challenge your folks? How often do you raise the bar for those around you? Might your shop be a better place to work if you engaged with your people to set some great goals? By the way you’ll enjoy your own work a lot more if you set high standards, so that you have to…
Lead with your best self,
Dan
* You can find and order my book, Everyday Leadership, as well as some of my favorite books on leadership at www.danmulhern.com.
May
14
Corporate Boardroom in the Woods
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Friends,
I had a very cool experience last week. Imagine this picture. We were at a
“ropes course” in the woods. Ten adults. Five pairs of two: one was blindfolded
and the other was sighted, and their job was to get the blindfolded partner
through a maze of ropes, laid out among the trees. All five in blindfolds
entered at the same time.
Their partners stationed at the start began to direct them. They brushed up
against the ropes, against tress, bumped into each other. Their partners called
out, “Gary, take 5 steps to your left.” “Cheryl, stop! Turn. No, the other way.”
It got louder and louder, and more and more difficult for the partners to hear
who was speaking to them. They hit dead ends, readjusted. After a while one guy
came through the exit gate, loudly high-fiving his partner. Then a second,
third, and fourth pair were finished. Only one woman remained in the maze, and
her (female) partner talked her deliberately through.
With blindfolds off they discussed the difficulty of their disability, the
challenge of trusting, and the frustration the guiders felt at not being able to
see the course well enough to know where the dead ends were. One of the (seven)
men asked the last pair why it had taken them so long. The women both said they
just couldn’t be heard above the other voices. “Hey,” a 6′4″ guy said with a
laugh, “you just gotta yell louder, you know?” The other woman in the group of
ten said, “Wait, why is it that they need to yell louder? When things don’t work
for us why is your answer always that we have to do things your way?“
Temperature’s rising a little with the ancient male-female divide appearing.
Before she could go on, the man replied, “Hey if it’s loud and you want to get
your team through you just have to yell louder. If not, well I guess you just
lose, but that’s your choice.”
Ten years ago I probably would have thought something like that, too. He’s
right. She’s wrong. But as facilitator, I asked him: “What is it that you heard
her say?” (Note: I didn’t ask, “Who is right?” or “Is she right or are you?”). I
just wanted to be sure he heard that there was another way to see it, and
I thought he then expressed her point pretty well. Sometimes someone is “right”
and often speed matters, but a lot of times “right” may be much less important
than a whole, or fuller view that allows everyone to have success in the
game. And sometimes speed now creates delay later when not everyone is
on board.
I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a connection between this exercise in
the woods and a report last weekend in a Detroit paper. It listed the top fifty
executives in compensation in 2006. Guess how many were women? How about one?
Elizabeth Acton, CFO of Comerica. And she was last on the list. Maybe it’s a
jungle, or at least like a ropes course in the forest. And how much wisdom is
being lost in those corporate boardrooms, because the expectation is that the
women need to learn to act like the men?
The ones in charge don’t always have the best way, and knowing that helps you
Lead with your best self,
Dan
May
8
The Amazing Mill Steel
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Friends,
Last week the Michigan Business & Professional Association held its “West Michigan’s 101 Best & Brightest Companies†awards luncheon and seminar. I walked around at the beginning of the session, asking one of my favorite questions, “How’s your business?â€Â There was no need to brace myself. The VP for Communications at Herman Miller said that after contraction in the early part of the decade things are really going well there; the president of Harold Ziegler Auto Group told me that their 22 dealerships (18 domestic brands) have had a great quarter; and Mill Steel presented and discussed the secret of their 10-15% annual growth. It struck me, as it does somewhat often, that some days we can’t see the successes in Michigan through the gloom we generate around ourselves. It’s so vital that we keep learning from those who are having success.
Mill Steel is an amazing story. For two years in a row they have won the “best of the best†in West Michigan, meaning that of the 101 winners, they were overall best. That in itself is amazing. But it’s also a third generation family business; and it’s challenging to generate change when family dynamics are at play; many third generation businesses don’t thrive but dwindle. And, it’s a manufacturing company – far from the easiest industry in which to win a “great company to work for†award. Finally, Mill Steel defies the conventional wisdom because its plants are unionized – the Canadian Auto Workers in Ontario, and the United Steel Workers here in the U.S., represent their workers. So, you want to know HOW, right?
Here is what struck me: Their leadership has high expectations. CEO Andrew Samrick wants his company to be the best by constantly “getting the customer what they want when they want it.â€Â  AND he wants it to be the best company to work for. He exudes passion about both, and he articulates them clearly. He says he hasn’t changed from his grandfather and father; they all shared this philosophy: “Find great people. Make sure everybody knows what the goal is and get out of the way. They’re going to do a great job for you.â€Â He has about 150 employees in two states and two countries, and he can reel off the names, and importantly, tell you who has lost a parent, or who is struggling with cancer in the family. (Today’s RFL comes with a bonus; click here http://christinebarry.com/downloads/mill_steel_1.mp3 for a 12-minute interview with Andrew Samrick, CEO of Mill Steel.)
If we could all sustain equal passion about wowing our customers and helping our people to flourish, how good would we be? Take out your gauge: How passionate are you about satisfying your customers, and how committed are you to the wellbeing of the people who can generate your organization’s success? Do those two things, and you will . . .
Lead with your best self,
Dan
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